Supervisors

Suitable for

Abstract

Relay satellites are vulnerable to covert communication attacks, in which the available spectrum is used to covertly communicate data over the link. This is possible since the relay satellites retransmit received signals at the Physical Layer
without any processing, allowing secret information to be embedded within the carrier signal. In this project, you will design and evaluate a protocol to perform these attacks on real relay satellites. The results will enable further research on
detecting these covert channels.

Interested students should have experience in computer networks and communication protocols, and be confident in developing software using Python. Some knowledge of cryptography/steganography helpful. No prior experience in radio
communications is required.

Relevant reading material:
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct-sequence_spread_spectrum
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steganography
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_watermarking